Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust, on the announcement of the intent to nominate Russlynn Ali as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights

Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust, on the announcement of the intent to nominate Russlynn Ali as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights

Share this article:

Publication date: Feb 4, 2009

WASHINGTON (February 4, 2009) - “I could not be more delighted by today’s announcement of the intent to nominate Russlynn Ali as the assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education. With this appointment, the Obama administration is sending a clear signal that they are focused like a laser on the achievement and opportunity gaps in America’s schoolsgaps that we must close if our nation is ever to live up to the ideals upon which it was founded.

“Russlynn’s commitment to educational equity and to the students too-often dismissed by others is unparalleled. Her intellectual leadership and steely determination will serve President Obama and the children of this country well.

“Over the past eight years, she has built The Education Trust-West into one of the most respected advocacy and research groups in California – indeed, in the nation. While her colleagues on both coasts will miss her day-to-day presence, she has developed and led a team that is strong, able, and committed to continuing the important work of closing the gaps that separate low-income students and students of color from other young people.

“Linda Murray, former superintendent of the San Jose Unified School District and a longtime advocate and change leader in California, has agreed to serve as acting director of The Education Trust-West while we undertake a search for Russlynn’s permanent replacement. Under Linda’s leadership, Ed Trust-West will remain a driving force behind efforts to ensure that California’s schools work well for all of the states students.”

Stay Informed

Join our email list to get weekly updates.

Please leave this field empty.

Related Content

This post is a part of an ongoing series, called “Why I Teach Where I Teach,” which asks educators in high-need schools to share what has attracted (and kept) them in the challenging environments they’re in. They share important stories and experiences that should remind us all of…

Not long ago, two teachers asked me a question that I found rather poignant: How could they help make their schools successful when their principals have no interest in changing what they're doing? The occasion was the National Title I Conference in Salt Lake City. I had met…

Kati Haycock California State University Cabinet Long Beach, California Published: February 24, 2015 JTNDaHIlM0U Interested in using The Education Trust's publications or presentations? Check out our policy.…

The following statement is from organizations that advocate for students, taxpayers, and access to quality higher education, including the American Federation of Teacher (AFT), Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Responsible Lending, Consumer Action, The Education Trust, Generation Progress, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients…

An offshoot of Ed Trust’s Echoes From the Gap series, drawing stories of students from behind the statistics, this blog series shares shorter narratives — brief glimpses into classrooms and hallways — that give readers an opportunity to examine educator practices and policies through the intimate lens of student experience. All…

Congress made the right decision a decade ago when it required states to administer yearly tests to public school students — and improve instruction for poor and minority students — in return for federal education aid. Read the full article in the New York Times.…

Once a year during the National Title I Association conference, thousands of people from schools and districts that receive this federal money converge to talk about the requirements of the law and ideas to improve the education of poor children. The law in question, of course, is the Elementary and…

At first, our coalition of national civil rights, business, and disabilities organizations may seem like odd bedfellows. Indeed, during the course of a typical year, these organizations disagree on many matters of public policy. But right now all of the organizations are focused on what unites, rather than divides…